When a bundle is active on a product page, the bundler preselects a variant based on the offer configuration. Shopify then updates the product media to show that variant's image, if one exists. This is standard Shopify behavior: selecting a variant changes the "current" product state, which includes the displayed image.
This can cause the main product image to change unexpectedly when a customer lands on the page, especially if the default offer preselects a variant that has its own image.
In this article:
Why the product image changes when a bundle is active
Keeping the main product image as the default
Troubleshooting image display issues
Why the product image changes when a bundle is active
The bundler preselects a variant when the page loads (based on the offer configuration and default variant settings). Shopify treats this as the customer having selected that variant, so it updates the product media gallery to show the variant's assigned image.
This is expected behavior and happens with any app or feature that preselects variants on Shopify.
Keeping the main product image as the default
If you're using the Atlas theme, there is a built-in setting that prevents the product image from switching when a variant is preselected:
Go to Online Store then Themes and click Customize on your Atlas theme.
Navigate to a product page.
Click Product information in the left sidebar.
Enable "Show main product image by default."
When this is enabled, the product page displays the main product image regardless of which variant is preselected by the bundler. Customers still see variant images when they manually change their selection.
ℹ️ The "Show main product image by default" setting is available in the Atlas theme. If you're using a different Shopify theme, check your theme's product page settings for a similar option, or contact your theme developer.
💡 This setting is recommended if you want the main product image to stay consistent across all bundle offers, especially if your main image is a lifestyle or marketing shot that represents the product better than individual variant images.
Troubleshooting image display issues
If you're seeing issues like the main image disappearing, not updating, or behaving inconsistently when a bundle is active, work through these steps:
Check the "Show main product image by default" setting (Atlas theme). Open the theme editor, go to the product page, click Product information, and try toggling this setting on. This resolves most image display issues related to bundles on the Atlas theme.
Review your bundler's variant image settings. In the bundle editor under Settings, check whether "Display variant's image as main product image when selected" is enabled. This setting tells the bundler to update the main image when a customer selects a variant in the bundle widget. If this conflicts with the theme setting above, try disabling one or the other to see which behavior you prefer.
Make sure all product variants have assigned images. Go to Products in your Shopify admin, select the product, and confirm that every variant has an image assigned. Missing variant images can cause blank or inconsistent displays when a variant is selected.
Refresh the page and test after changes. After adjusting any settings, do a full page refresh and test by selecting different variants and adding the bundle to confirm everything displays correctly.
Check for theme setting conflicts. If your theme has been heavily customized, verify that no other theme settings are overriding product image behavior, particularly settings related to variant image display or product media galleries.
If the issue persists after trying all of the above, contact support through Intercom web chat (type "Talk to agent") or email support@helloatlas.io with screenshots of both your bundle settings and the product page in the theme editor.